Elastic weft-knitted rib fabric



Nov. 11; 1969 H. E. TOWSLEE, JR

ELASTIC WEFT-KNITTED RIB FABRIC Filed Feb. 14, 1968 D I c N 8 l H m 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Iv L n F/ L if u\ 5 $-3 0 #iEwu Q mQu Q w a wmfl fl i M #7 L v I V/ L n L 40 40 .3 7 Lv LJ 0. I H rO| v. H m AIM 1. H

'INVENTOR. florold E. Towslee ATTORNEYS United States Patent York Filed Feb. 14, 1968, Ser. No. 705,426 Int. Cl. D04b 1/20 U.S. Cl. 66200 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Elastic weft-knitted rib fabric having alternate courses of relatively inelastic yarn and of a crimped synthetic yarn having elastic properties where the loops of knitted yarn of the synthetic material are shorter in length than the knitted loops of the synthetic yarn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a weft-knitted rib fabric having superior stretch qualities and more particularly to a weftknitted rib fabric having alternate courses of a cotton yarn and of a crimped synthetic yarn wherein the knitted loops of synthetic yarn are shorter in length than the knitted lops of cotton yarn.

It is known that weft-knitted rib fabrics have limited stretch capabilities along the width of the fabric and that when such fabric is stretched, the needle wale loops of the fabric will open to increase the width of the loop and that when the fabric is relaxed, the needle Wale loops will close to retract the fabric. Various elastic synthetic yarns have been developed in order to improve the stretch characteristics of knitted fabrics but fabrics produced from such yarns have had objectionable features attributable to the yarn used. For example, synthetic fibers such as nylon have poor feel and absorption characteristics and many people find them objectionable for wear where the fabric contacts the skin as for example in underwear. While it is old to combine different yarns into a knitted fabric such that the fabric will have desirable properties attributed to it by the different yarns, nevertheless a weft-knitted fabric has not been produced which has both the desirable increased stretch characteristics due to the use of an elastic synthetic yarn and also the feel and absorbency due to a natural yarn, and which more importantly, can be conveniently made on conventional knitting machines with a minimum of complex machine programming. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide for a fabric having superior stretch characteristics attributable in part to use of an elastic synthetic yarn that may be made on conventional knitting machines without complex programming of the machine and which at the same time may utilize the desirable properties of feel and absorption derived from a natural yarn.

Broadly my invention contemplates a weft-knitted rib fabric wherein alternate courses comprise a natural yarn, such as cotton, and a crimped synthetic yarn, such as nylon, wherein the length of the loops of the cotton yarn is longer than that of the crimped synthetic yarn. Such fabric may be conveniently made on a conventional circular knitting machine having cylinder and dial latch needles. Half of the total number of yarn feeds are of cotton yarn while the other half are of a crimped synthetic yarn wherein the feeds of cotton yarn and the feeds of synthetic yarn alternate with each other. Tension devices are utilized with the yarn feeds of synthetic yarn to assist in even knitting and to assure that the stitch of the synthetic yarn is shorter than that of the cotton yarn so that the loops in a given course of synthetic yarn are shorter in length than the loops in a longitudinally adjajacent course of cotton yarn.

The fabric after being produced on the circular knitting machine is then further processed including bleaching, water extracting, drying and calendering during which the stitches in the fabric are released and the fabric is set to its desired tubular width.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The figure is an enlarged view illustrating fabric knitted according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing in detail, there is illustrated an expansible or stretch fabric made of a combination of a natural yarn and of a crimped synthetic yarn having desirable elastic properties. As shown, the fabric comprises a weft-knitted rib fabric having a plurality of loops 1 on the front side of the fabric forming longitudinally extending ribs or wales and ribs or wales on the back side of the fabric formed by longitudinally extending loops 2. The fabric may be conveniently made on a conventional circular knitting machine having a plurality of dial and cylinder latch needles and a plurality of individual yarn feeds. The needles of the machine are programmed to stitch with a 1 x l rib setting such that the loops forming the ribs on the face side of the fabric are knitted by the cylinder needles and where the loops forming the ribs on the back side of the fabric are knitted by the dial needles.

The fabric illustrated was made on a machine having eight separate yarn feeds wherein half of the yarn feeds were furnished with a natural yarn and wherein the other half of the feeds were furnished with a crimped synthetic yarn and where the natural and synthetic yarn feeds were alternated with one another. This arrangement of the yarn feeds then produces courses of synthetic yarn, namely courses 1, 3, 5 and 7 which alternate with courses of natural yarn, namely 2, 4, 6 and 8.

Preferably the natural yarn comprises cotton while the synthetic yarn comprises a crimp nylon having desirable stretch characteristics. The yarn feeds having the crimped synthetic yarn have conventional tension devices associated therewith such that the loops 10 are uniform and even. The machine is set up such that the length of stitch of the synthetic yarn forming the loops 10 is shorter than the length of the stitch forming the loops 11 of the cotton yarn.

After the fabric has been knitted on the machine, it is removed for further processing in order to improve its stretch characteristics. This entails placing the fabric in cotton bags which are then placed in a bleaching tank where the bags and bleach are softly agitated by paddles. Placing the fabric in the bags assures that the fabric will be kept as tensionless as possible thus allowing the individual knitted loops to retract and improve the stretch and recovery properties of the fabric.

After bleaching, the bags containing the fabric are placed in a centrifugal type extractor where excess water is removed. The fabric is then removed from the bags and dried in a Tubular Textile relaxed jet open flame gas drier. While drying in the drier, the fabric is maintained in an overfed state to prevent the stretch and recovery properties imparted to it from being destroyed. After drying, the fabric is passed over a Tubular Textile calendering machine for the final stitch relaxation and final setting of the fabric to the desired finished tubular width.

The fabric such as illustrated in the drawings has maximum stretchability and recovery properties while at the same time having the desirable properties of absorbency and feel attributed to fabrics made entirely from a natural fiber.

While I have described my invention as including the combination of cotton and crimped nylon yarns, it is obvious that other crimped synthetic yarns besides nylon might be utilized. It is further obvious that the fabric could be made on a flat bed knitting machine rather than a circular knitting machine.

I claim:

1. An elastic weft-knitted rib fabric having alternate courses of a cotton yarn and of a crimped synthetic yarn wherein the length of the loops of the knitted courses of crimped synthetic yarns are shorter than the length of the loops of the knitted courses of cotton yarn when the fabric is in the relaxed nonstretched state.

2. An elastic tubular-knitted rib fabric comprising alternate knitted threads of cotton and of a crimped synthetic material having elastic properties wherein the loops of knitted threads of synthetic material are shorter in length than the longitudinally adjacent loops of knitted threads of cotton whereby said fabric is stretchable in a lateral direction to increase the width of the loops of the knitted threads of synthetic material.

3. A weft-knitted rib fabric comprising alternate knitted threads of a relatively inelastic material and of a crimped synthetic material having elastic properties wherein therloops of knitted threads of the synthetic material are shorter in length than the adjacent loops of the knitted threads of the relatively inelastic material when the fabric is in a relaxed nonstretched state whereby the fabric may be stretched in a direction to increase the width of the loops of the synthetic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 568,694 9/1896 Muhlinghaus et a1. 66202 2,169,203 8/1939 Hinchlifi? 66 -201 XR 2,503,444 4/1950 Lawson et al 66200 XR 2,702,998 3/1955 Purcell 66-202 XR 3,063,271 11/1962 Faust et al. 66-169 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 283,182 1/1967 Australia.

7,468 7/1899 Norway.

20 WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

